Is It Just Me?
— Susan Rigby, Guest Columnist
Join Wimberley humorist Susan Rigby as she attempts to navigate “the small stuff.”
I don’t mean that my dog Seymour does crafts, at least not when I’m at home. Although I have noticed a few of my Craft books opened near his crate. But I digress - he is crafty in the way he manipulates me. He usually fools me once, but fool me twice - or three times and I could be President.
Back to the crafty part.- he knows that I don’t like him to bark. When he does, I get out the squirt water bottle and point it his way, and he instantly stops barking. Unfortunately, he also knows that if I stand there long enough holding the bottle in front of me. my arm will eventually get tired and I have to lower the bottle. So, with a smirk, he starts barking again.
He also knows that when he whines, I will go through my list of concerns, like “Are you hungry?”, “Do you want to go outside?” “Are you sick?”. Usually he doesn’t need anything, just all of my attention. Got me again!
When we take a walk, he stops every 3 feet to smell the aromas of the various dog and cat droppings. I have never figured out why, when dogs are supposed to have this great sense of smell, he has to put his nose directly on another dog’s poop? He knows what it smells like from a football field away. He also knows his time is limited in the nose-to-poop exploration because i will drag him away quicker than the weather changes in Texas. He has learned a way of prolonging that pleasure. He stops, lifts his leg and stands there slowly looking around and smelling the ground. He knows I won’t stop him from his potty break and I can’t always tell if he is going. This 3 legged yoga maneuver has really improved his balance. I finally lift my own leg a few inches to practice my own balance since I may be there awhile. I’m sure my neighbors think that Seymour is teaching me tricks. He is so crafty, I think he is. Fool me twice. . .
